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P&Z commissioners propose Sussex transportation fund

Money would be set aside for county road improvements
July 31, 2017

A transportation trust fund for Sussex County road projects?

New Sussex County Planning and Zoning Chairman Marty Ross kicked off a July 13 workshop with that suggestion.

Ross said going forward it can't be business as usual for road work in the county. “We have worked with the state and they have worked with us, and we have failed,” Ross said. “Our approach is not working. We have to address how we fix this problem,” he said, adding the county should take the lead in the planning process.

“We are stuck in a perpetual planning cycle, and we need to figure out how to break out of it,” Ross said.

One solution, he said, would be a county transportation trust fund, separate from the state's, for projects deemed critical by county officials. Currently, the state owns all roads – outside of most private subdivision streets – and is responsible for all maintenance, repairs, improvements and new projects.

His fellow commissioners agreed to put the idea in the plan. “We will see how much pushback it gets because it's going to get some,” Ross said.

Commissioners met with Delaware Department of Transportation planners who, in the past, have written the plan's mobility chapter, which has been rubber-stamped by county officials. That's not the case this time around, Ross said.

Ross said, once the plan is approved, county officials could get into the details of creating a trust fund with new sources of revenue, possibly including state matching grants. “We need to open doors and not close them,” Ross said.

He said possible revenue sources for the fund could be a new tax structure where part-time residents pay a higher rate, a rolling reassessment, special tax districts for transportation improvements and a requirement that any county general fund surplus be designated to the trust fund.

In addition, he said, DelDOT officials could be asked to develop a matching fund to support county road work beyond projects in their six-year capital plan.

Ross asked DelDOT planners if they could come to back to the commission with a chapter draft within a week.

DelDOT's Sussex County planner Josh Thomas said that deadline was not possible. “What you have presented to us is a big idea,” he replied to Ross.

“You asked us to be creative, and we need to know if we are on the right track. We don't want to do it the fast way. We want the plan to be solutions focused; we want to be creative and realistic,” Thomas said. “We want to present a lot of options to solve problems.”

DelDOT planners presented 69 strategies for commissioners to consider. At the end of the workshop, Thomas said he felt planners were on the right track. He said they will have a final draft of the mobility chapter completed within a month, but will provide commissioners with sections as they are completed.

Questions about transportation district

Another new idea placed in the plan by the commission is creation of a transportation advisory committee or a Community Planning Organization. Thomas said working groups could be created for specific projects as well.

Ross asked Thomas if the committee could be substituted for the Henlopen Transportation Improvement District, an initiative which has been preliminarily approved by county council and DelDOT officials. Work is being done by both parties toward a final agreement.

“That would not be popular with Secretary Cohan,” Thomas said. “I think you would be doing yourself a disservice if you take it out.”

He said transportation improvement districts are included in state law and have specific regulations attached to them, and leaving the district in the plan gives county officials more options.

Commissioner Bob Wheatley asked about changes to the agreement once it has been approved. “The fear is that one party will say no. Who has the hammer?” he asked.

Thomas said stipulations can be written into the agreement. He said changes can be made if both parties agree and a study is completed to determine the impact of the changes.

Wheatley said since most county land is zoned AR-1, he wasn't sure how upzoning would be handled within the boundaries of a transportation improvement district.

Ross said creating a transportation improvement district with detailed build-out data would create a race for residential and commercial developers to rush to meet build-out caps. “Is that the right type of environment we really want to create – a race to build out?” he asked.

DelDOT officials said in other areas of the country, the opposite has occurred because of the equity of costs shared by all developers building projects within a district. Without a district, the last developer in an area pays more for road improvements because of the cumulative effects of other developments built over several years.

Ross said property owners within the proposed transportation improvement district need to be better informed. “Greater public understanding is needed,” he said. “There has not been enough public vetting.”

DelDOT officials said public hearings are required by law.

At the suggestion of Sussex County Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell, the strategy outlining a transportation improvement district was rewritten. It does not specifically name a district, but calls for transportation alternatives such as a transportation improvement district.

Go to sussexplan.com for more information. 

About the Henlopen district

The proposed transportation district borders Lewes city limits to the north – including parts of New Road; the Five Points intersection; Route 9 and Fisher Road to the west; Route 24 and Long Neck to the south; and Route 1 and the county's Wolfe Neck wastewater treatment facility to the east. The district encompasses 17 square miles, 69 intersections and 66 miles of roads – 37 miles within the district and 29 leading into the district.

DelDOT officials would consider developing separate transportation districts for the City of Lewes and the area around Beaver Dam Road, where a new sewer line is being installed. 

What is offered in a transportation improvement district:

• Cost of road improvements is shared equitably by developers

• DelDOT contributes a percentage to road improvements

• DelDOT collects more data – such as traffic counts – specific to the district

• Sussex officials have a say in recommending and approving road work

• Expedited development reviews

• Road projects within district can move up the priority ladder

• Comprehensive infrastructure planning

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